The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1887-01-22
THE DRESSMAKER.


turned MIR. Neville. az am in constant
fear of that collection saucer; but if re-
member rightly, money was one thing
that Robinson Crusoe managed to get
along without"
Yes" said Lou. "And how contempt
uously he spoke of those gold pieces he
found in the cabin of the Spanish shipl
I dare say papa wishes we all belonged
to the Crusoe family. But where did you
come across her, Miss Wolfe? Your
Crusoe, mean?"
On Y avenue She has charge of Mr..
Davenport's house during the absence of
the family in Europe"
"That fine house on the corner OF H
street? 1 should like to live there my
SELF
But not all alone, as Bertha Mum
lives. There Is not a soul in the house,
except herself, for she is not allowed to
have any one stay with her, or even to re-
ceive calls from her friends
Bertha Mum? How old woman is
she?" asked Mrs. Neville.
about twenty" returned Miss Wolfe;
"but she looks nearer forty. Size has had
a hard life. When she was sixteen. she
had paralyt tic mother to nurse, and
drunken father to look after, besides
having to support them by her labor.
They are dead now, and she has only
herself to provide for, but she says life
hardly seems worth having, since her
mother is gone. These bed-ridden poor,
whom we are apt to regard as cumberers
Of the earth, are sometimes more missed
than we should be-"
Yes, like Tiny Tim in the Christ
mas Carroll" said Lou. "But what is
Bertha Mupn's profession?
"She is dressmaker. don't mean
q dressmaker like Madame T, able to
wear diamonds and sables, but one who
sews in families for two dollars day, or
makes sleeves in an extensive dressmak-
ing establishment for ten dollars week."
Ten dollars week. 1t seems to me
if she can earn that she might afford to
board somewhere" observed Mrs. Ne
vile.
Yes; but earning is one thing, and
getting it is another" returned Miss
Wolfe. It is said that the Womans
Protective Union has more trouble with
heads of large establishments than with
any other class of employers. They will
pay girls one or two dollars at the end of
the week, and tell them they must wait
awhile for the rest of their money. Such
waiting is rather inconvenient unless the
landlady will consent to wait also. Ber-
tina receives now ten dollars month for
taking care Of the house, and having her
own sewing machine, she makes calico
wrappers for dealer in such articles.
Her machine is company for her, SO she
says, and though she earns very little by
her work-not more than three dollars
week-it is paid when it is earned She
never leaves the house, except to fetch
and carry her work, for the Davenport
family have holy horror OF thieves. 'Of
course it is lonesome said Bertha to me
this afternoon, but anything is better
than going into debt
"I should say it would be lonesome"
exclaimed Lou. +" To think of girl of
that age, who hasn't committed any
crime, living in solitary confinement, as
it were"
"And sewing all the week for three
dollarsl" added Annie. what coming
down from two dollars a day for sewing
in familiesl I should have kept at that
if had been in her place"
The trouble was" said Miss Wolfe,
that the families for whom she sewed
were almost as uncertain in their pay as
the dressmaking establishments. 1t was
'Come again Tomorrow or Call another
day. until Bertha would almost wear out
pair of shoes in collecting bill. And
then, too, such work is irregular. If
dress were wanted for some special occa-
sion, Bertha would sometimes be kept
till late in the evening, and not word
said of extra pay. Then there would
come the dull season, when everybody
who was anybody had had her dresses
made, and was out of town for the sum
mer. Then, often in cold weather, Ber-
tina would have to work in room with
out fire, and her dinner would be
brought up to her cold. Aud some of her
employers were very hard to please.
There were stout women who thought it
was the dressmaker's fault that they did
not look slender; and thin women who
thought it her fault that they were not
plump; and there were alterations upon
alterations, until, no doubt, the poor girl
soGetimes wished herself on Fiji isl
and, or some other favored spot where
dress is not regarded as the standard of
gentility."
" But what common people she must
have sewed for" said Annie, eff they
could not treat a working woman de-
centlyi"
:" My dear, why are common people
called common" asked Miss. Wolfe.
g Isn't it because there are so many of
them? If Bertha had worked only for
uncommon people, | fancy she would
have been Idle mora than half the time.
Clara Marshall, in Lend Hand. o..
sFafua IN Sicilian marble of agis